Wednesday, 4 April 2012

Nearly off!

Well it certainly doesn't seem like a year since we set off for our 2011 trip to Western Australia and other parts, but we left before Easter last year and this year it will be after Easter before we are on our way.Since we came home in August it has been very busy and the phrase "I don't know how I had time to work" has been used nearly every week! Firstly, there was the wonderful arrival of Olivia Katherine Martin in August which we were thrilled to celebrate with Pete and Dawn on the day of her arrival and for a few days afterwards. We have since made three further trips to Gosford and now Narara where they have recently settled into their new house and have had a wonderful time on each visit watching her grow and begin to know who we are. We're guessing the visits will continue to be frequent!Norah, of course continues to be a joy and grows more adorable all the time. We are very lucky to have her on Wednesdays for the whole day now that Kate has returned to full-time work. On the other days she trots off to Family Day Care equally happily. I take her for her swimming lesson and its a bit like water aerobics with weights but ably supported by Megan the swimming instructor ensuring we all have a great time. Of course baby chinos at the coffee shop are an important part of the routine as well, and at the moment Grandpa is spoiling her with Easter treats of chocolate. Ah the joys of grandparenting as we often tell the children its much better than parenting and if we'd known we would have skipped having kids and gone straight for the grandkids!All of this makes you think how will we leave, and I guess that is partly why we are a bit late leaving this year, but there have been other reasons. Mundane things like needing to do a bit (a lot actually!) of maintenance around the house and getting the garden in order and making sure we will come home to some order around the place. We also decided we would like to avoid the Easter panic and we do have plenty of time to do what we want to.Which brings me to the plan of what we are going to do. Actually, its a bit like every year, we have no idea! Tonight Warwick asked where we were going and Ian said "no plans, yet". We do know we are going back to Western Australia as you would realise from last year we fell in love with that part of the country and know we barely scratched the surface. Beyond that, well we'll get to the end of Gordon Drive and decide on how we get there.So when we do I'll put it on the post, and no, I do now need any corny remarks on my ability to navigate or tell where I am. I'm going to be much better this year I've decided, so we'll see how that plan works!!The van will be packed early next week, the patchwork, knitting and books loaded, clothes in the wardrobes, and food in the pantry and fridge, NO honey this year, couldn't stand the worry at the checkpoints thank you and we'll be off!